Oops: American Airlines DOES NOT Have Pilots For 15,000 Holiday Flights

There has been a scheduling glitch in American Airlines that allowed all pilots to take leave during the second half of December. The glitch has left 15,000 American Airlines’ flights without pilots. Per CNN, the Allied Pilot’s Association (APA) released the following statement:

“a failure within the pilot schedule bidding system. As a result, thousands of flights currently do not have pilots assigned to fly them during the upcoming critical holiday period”.

American Airlines spokesman, Matt Miller, responded with the following statement:

“We have reserve pilots to help cover flying in December, and we are paying pilots who pick up certain open trips 150 percent of their hourly rate — as much as we are allowed to pay them per the contract. We will work with the APA to take care of our pilots and ensure we get our customers to where they need to go over the holidays’.

The APA and American Airlines are at odds over the compensation.

I hope that this situation is rectified quickly. If not, please be prepared for delays or cancellations. I cannot understand how this was overlooked.